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A delegation of Mennonites and Roman Catholics sat face to face in Strasbourg, France Oct. 14-18 to talk about past and present relationships between the two church bodies.
The Mennonite World Conference sent a seven-member delegation, including representatives of the MB Church, Howard J. Loewen of California and Nzash Lumeya of Congo, to the discussions.
The Roman Catholic Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity sent six representatives. This is the highest body in the Roman Catholic Church which carries responsibility for relations with other denominations and oversees Catholic doctrine.
During the five days of meetings, each group heard church profiles of the other. Loewen presented a paper entitled "Who we are", with a similar paper presented by a member of the Catholic delegation on the Roman Catholic Church. A second set of papers were then presented which focussed on historical questions in order to shed light on the reactions to each other in the 16th century. One paper was entitled "The Catholic response to the Anabaptist Movement in the Sixteenth Century." The various presentations and discussion of issues were aimed at contributing towards a healing of memories between the two churches.
"Our Catholic partners in conversation have a keen appreciation for and interest in Mennonite theology of peace," said Helmut Harder, one of the delegates. "[They] accept us as Christian brothers and sisters and regard the Mennonite communion (MWC) as `church' as well."
There had been some interaction between the two group previous to this meeting. A representative of the Pontifical Council was an observer at the MWC's general assembly in Calcutta. It is anticipated that the dialogue will continue in October 1999.--Mennonite World Conference
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